Door and operating mechanism



1938. c. M. WEINHEIMER I 2,105,873

DOOR AND OPERATING MECHANISM Filed Dec. 3, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 a W MM. M w

1933- c. M. WEINHEIMER ,8

DOOR AND OPERATING MECHANISM O 15 O ZEME U.E$

Patented Jan. 18, 1938 PATENT OFFHCE DOOR AND OPERATING MECHANISM ClaudeM. Weinheimer,

Detroit, Mich., assignor to Detroit Electric Furnace Company, Detroit,

Mich., a corporation 0 Application December 3,

2 Claims.

The present invention relates in general to an improved doorconstruction and is particularly concerned with a novel operatingmechanism for opening and closing the door, and although the hereindescribed invention has been found to be particularly adapted for use asa charging door in connection with electric furnaces, it will beapparent that the invention may with equal facility be utilized inconnection with other devices.

Heretofore, it has been the general practice in the field of electricfurnaces to provide a charging door of the type which is hinged at itsupper edge for swinging movement. At most, a door arrangement of thiskind was inconvenient and necessitated the use of clamping screws or thelike for clamping the door in closed position, which made it verydifiicult to properly seat the door.

To the end that the diificulties experienced with the usual type ofcharging doors might be overcome, this invention contemplates amechanical arrangement for opening the door, wherein the door instead ofbeing swung about one edge is bodily shifted outwardly from its seatingposition and is at the same time shifted upwardly to one side of theopening, thereby providing unobstructed access to the interior of thefurnace. Moreover, with the improved door operating mechanism herein tobe described, the mechanism inherently functions to retain the door inany position to which it is moved and prevent movement of the door otherthan by the actuation of the door operating mechanism. This isparticularly advantageous in that when the door is moved to seatedposition, it is not neces: sary to have additional clamping means tohold the door in closed position.

A further object of the invention resides in the provision of operatingmeans which is so con structed that during the seating operation, thedoor will be simultaneously moved toward its seat and at the same timetransversely to the seat, whereby a wiping engagement is attained.

It is a still further object to provide a door operating mechanismhaving its parts so arranged that pressure will be applied against thedoor in its seating direction, when the door is moved into engagementwith its seat.

In accordance with the general features of the invention, it is proposedto provide an opening in a wall structure, in this instance a chargingopening in the shell of the furnace, and a door for opening and closingthe opening. The door is suspended adjacent its upper margin from a pairof spaced arms which are carried on a rotatable shaft, the outer ends ofthese arms being pivotally connected to the door proper. This shaft isarranged to be rotated through a worm and wheel, the worm beingactuatable by means of a suitable crank. The spaced arms are of fMichigan 1934, Serial No. 755,744

such length that when they are rotated, the up per margin of the door iscarried outwardly and upwardly in an arcuate path.

The lower margin of the door is guided by means of spaced members havinglongitudinally extending slots therein, these slots being disposed at anangle. Cooperatively associated with the slots are lugs which arecarried by the door. As the upper margin of the door is carriedoutwardly and upwardly in an arcuate movement, the lower margin is,therefore, guided so that its movement is rectilinear except for a smallportion of its movement at the seating position of the door. The lowerend of the guide slots are slightly curved so' that as the door isbrought into seating position, its movement will be toward its seat.

It will, be observed that due to the inclination of the guide slots,components of pressure will be set up to act in a direction toward thedoor seat, whereby the door is forced under pressure into its seatingposition. Moreover, this arrangement causes the door to seat with awiping engagement.

Other objects and features of this invention will more fully appear fromthe following de-' tailed description taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings which illustrate a single embodiment thereon, andin which:

Figure 1 is a view in elevation of a furnace equipped with a doormechanism which embodies the features of the herein described invention,

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary end view of the furnace shellshowing the cooperative relationship of the parts of the door andoperating mechanism;

Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view through the furnaceshell and door to show the open and closed position of the door relativeto the charging opening, taken substantially on line III-III of Figure1, and

Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional View showing details ofthe guiding means for the lower edge of the door, taken substantially online IV-IV of Figure 1.

-As shown on the drawings:

In the illustrated embodiment, the present invention is shown as beingapplied to an electric furnace, which in this case is of the rockingtype,

and comprises a shell structure Ill defining a melting chamber. Theshell structure is substantially cylindrical in shape and is lined withsuitable refractory material which is generally indicated at ll. Rails|2-'-l2 are suitably supported at the respective ends of the furnaceshell and are adapted to cooperate with roller supports l3, as shown inFigure 2, whereby the furnace may be rocked about a horizontal axis.'Secured to the shell Ill, as by bolts I4, is a substantiallyrectangular frame structure l5 of suitable metallic material.

The frame 15 defines an opening It for the charging of the furnace. Thisopening at the top of the door is lined with a lintel tile I! that has arearwardly inclined forward face portion I8 terminating at a lowermarginal edge in a portion l9, this portion being normal to the innersurface 20 of the tile which cooperates with the associated portions ofthe lining to form an opening through the furnace lining into themelting chamber.

At the lower portion of the charging opening,

there is disposed a sill tile 2| which cooperates in forming thecharging opening.

For pouring the molten metal from the furnace without the necessity ofhaving to open the charging door, there is provided a spout 22 ofmetallic material which is secured as by bolts 23 to the lower portionof the frame 15. This spout in actual use is lined with a material suchas clay 2 which protects the metallic spout from the molten metal.

The charging opening is closed by a door 25 which is of plate-likeconstruction and provided at its periphery with a deflected flange 26which not only strengthens the plate but also defines an abutmentsurface 21 for abutting the frame structure i5.

The rear side of the plate 25 is protected from the heat of the furnaceby means of a block 28 of refractory material which is secured to theplate by means of a plurality of bolts 29.

Referring to Figure 3, it will be observed that the upper edge of thisblock is beveled as shown at 30, whereby as will later be evidenced, asthe door starts to move to open position, its upper edge may readilyclear the lintel tile.

Referring to Figure 1, it will be noted that the upper portion of theframe I5 is extended to define a pair of spaced bearing members 3| and32, within which there is rotatably supported a shaft 33. Outwardlydisposed of these bearing members and fixedly secured to the shaft 33 isa pair of arms 34 and 35.

The free or outer end of the arms 34; and 35 are pivotally connected tolaterally extending lugs 36 and 3'! which are integrally formed with thedoor plate 25.

Disposed on either side of the plate 25 is a pair of side plate members38 and 39 which are integrally formed with the frame l5 and Xtencloutwardly therefrom. The members 38 and 39 are respectively providedwith elongated slots 49 which are rectilinear except for an inwardlycurved portion 4! at the lower ends.

The lower edge of the plate 25 is guided by virtue of laterally extendedlugs 42 and 43 which are slidably supported in the aligned slots 40 ofthe plate members 38 and 39. The shaft 53 at one end projects past theassociated end of the furnace shell and is fixedly secured to a wormwheel 45 which meshes with a worm 45 on a right angularly disposed shaft46, the worm wheel, worm and short shaft 46 being'disposed within ahousing 4'! which may be welded or otherwise secured to the endportion'of the furnace shell.

The shaft 46 projects at one end from the housing 41 and is adapted toremovably receive an operating crank 48 by means of which the worm andwheel may be actuated to open and close the charging door.

Since the drive through the worm and wheel cannot be reversed, the wormwill lock the worm wheel against movement other than by the crank 48 andthe charging door will be held in any position to which it is moved. Thearms 34 and 35 are of sufficient length that when they are swung in thearc of a circle, the upper end of the charging door is carried clear ofthe lintel and at the initial starting of the opening operation, thecurved portion 4| of the slot 40 causes the door to move outwardly ofthe charging opening, after which the lower edge of the door hasrectilinear motion. The open position of the door is shown in dottedlines in Figure 3.

In moving the door to closed position, the door is seated in the closedposition with a sliding movement. Due to the curved portion 4| of theslot, the door is forced inwardly under pressure to its seating positionand as the door is seated, the downward movement of the door causes thedoor to seat with wiping engagement. The worm and wheel operate tomaintain the door in seated position and it is not necessary as in theprior art devices to have special clamping devices, etc. to clamp thedoor in closed position.

From the foregoing description, it will be apparent that the hereindescribed invention provides an improved door and operating meanstherefor, which is especially applicable for use in connection with afurnace; a door which in the open position is entirely clear of theopening and is held against movement from that position by means otherthan the operating mechanism, whereby the door will remain in anyposition to which it is moved; a door which is forcefully seated withwiping engagement and a door which does not necessitate the use ofspecial clamps, etc. for securing it in closed position.

Now, it is of course to be understood that althoughI have described indetail a preferred embodiment of my invention, the invention is not tobe thus limited but only insofar as defined by the scope and spirit ofthe appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

- 1. In combination, a door frame defining an opening, a shaft rotatablymounted above said door, a. vertically swingable arm carried by saidshaft and having its outer end pivotally connected to the door adjacentits upper edge, whereby the upper edge of the door is moved outwardlyand upwardly away from said opening in an arcuate path, and inclinedslot guide means for the lower edge of the door for causing it toinitially move outwardly and upwardly in a curved path and thereafter ina straight line path.

2. In combination, a door frame defining an opening, a shaft rotatablymounted above said door, a vertically swingable arm carried by saidshaft and having its outer end pivotally connected to the door adjacentits upper edge, whereby the upper edge of the door is moved outwardlyand upwardly away from said opening in an arcuate path, inclined slotguide means for the lower edge of the door for causing it to initiallymove outwardly and upwardly in a curved path and thereafter in astraight line path, and a Worm and wheel drive for rotating said shaftto open and close said door and maintain the same in any adjustedposition, all of said elements being associated and mounted for unitarymovement.

CLAUDE M. WEINHEIMER.

